Wagon-brake.



E. C. PRYOR.

WAGON BRAKE.

W/T/VESSES @UQ/m n@ A TTOHNEYS THE NoRms PErERs co., wAsHmcraN. D. s,

B. C. PRYOR.

WAGON BRAKE.

APPLIUATIQN FILED FEB. ze, 190s.

Patented Nov. 17,1908.

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'UNITED srarngrarnur onirica.

RUFUS C. PRYOR, OF NEAR WOLFSVILLE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCLAUDE U. STOTTLEMYER, OF NEAR WOLFSVILLE, MARYLAND.

WAGON-BRAM Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1'7, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUFUS C. PRYOR, a citizen of the United States, anda resident near VOlfSVille, in the county of Frederick and State ofMaryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wagon-Brakes, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a brake for vehicles whichcan be automatically applied by the backing of the team, and wherein theautomatic brake mechanism can be rendered inactive at the will of thedriver.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide a brake mechanism ofthe character described that will be simple economic, and positive inits action. The invention consists in the novel construction andcombination of the several parts as will be hereinafter fully set forthand pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis speciication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the running gear of a vehicle having theimproved brake mechanism applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a section takenpractically on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail side elevationof the forward portion of the tongue of the vehicle, and Fig. 4i is asection taken practically on the line -fl of Fig. 3.

A represents the rear axle of the running gear of a vehicle, A theforward axle, A2 the rear bolster, A3 the forward bolster, A4 the rearhounds and A5 the forward hounds. The rear axle A is provided with thecustomary wheels 10, and the forward axle A with similar wheels 11. Brepresents the brake bar, which is provided with the usual brake shoes12, for engagement with the peripheral portions of the rear wheels 10.This brake bar B is guided in its movement to and from the rear wheelsby bars 13, secured to the rear hounds A4, and passing through suitableguides 14Y secured upon the said brake bar, as is illustrated in Fig. 1.The brake bar is provided adjacent to each of its ends with a threadedrod 15, that passes through it and is provided at its forward end with anut 15a, as is illustrated in Fig. 1.' These threaded rods 15 arepivotally connected with links 16, and these links 16 are provided attheir rear ends with rings 17, or their equivalents, and chains 18 areconnected to said rings and to a shaft 19, that is mounted upon theforward portion of the bolster A2, as is also shown in Fig. 1, so thatthe brakes can be applied by hand if desired. In making the connectionbetween the brake bar B and the shaft 19, the chains 18 are secured tocrank arms 2O that extend c from the shaft l19, and at one end of thesaid shaft 19, a lever 21 is secured whereby to apply the brakes whennecessary by hand. Brake actuating arms 22 and 23 are also employed atthe rear portion of the said running gear, being located in front of therear axle A. These arms 22 and 23 are pivoted in offsets 24C from thebolster A2, and their outer ends, which are straight, are connected bychains 25 with the aforesaid rings 17, to which the chains 18 areconnected. The inner portions of the arms 22 and 23 are curved forwardlyand inwardly, and are provided at their inner ends with friction rollers2G, which friction rollers are located within a guard rail 27 thatsurrounds opposing inclined planes 28 and 29, that are formed upon anoperating bar 3() for the brakes, which operating bar 30 is located overthe reach AG of the said running gear, which reach may be of anysuitable construction. A spring 31 is coiled around the operating brakebar 30, which controls the actual brake bar B in an automatic manner tobe hereinafter described, and the said spring 31 serves to hold thebrake actuating arms 22 and 23 in such position that the brake shoes 12are out of engagement with the rear wheels 10. The brake operating bar30 is attached at its forward end to a rod 32 which is provided at itsforward end with a cross bar 33, and this cross bar 33 has attached toit at each of its ends, a cable or a chain 34:, the ends whereof areconnected by a hook 35a, as is shown in Fig. 1, and hooks 351 may beprovided for attaching the said chain or cable 34 to the said head ofthe bar 32. This chain or cable 34C passes at each side of the reach AGand is carried through guides 35 also attached to the said reach, andthe forward portion of the said chain or cable 34 extends beyond andabove the forward axle A and is provided with a reinforcing tube 36, towhich tube 36 the rear end of a rod 37 is attached,

which rod is carried below the tongue 38. The tongue 38 at its forwardend, as is shown in Fig. 3, is made square in cross section, as isindicated at 39 in Figs. 3 and 4, and the square portion 39 of thetongue is provided with a series of aperturesv or recesses 40 in itsupper face. A chain 41 is secured to the outer end of the rod 37 locatedbeneath the tongue, and which may be termed a draft rod, and this chain41, or a cable may be substituted for said chain, is carried over apulley 42, that is located at the forward end of the aforesaid tongue38, and the said chain or cable 41 after being passed over the pulley 42is carried rearward over the upper portion of the tongue and is attachedto a slide 43, mounted upon the square portion 39 of said tongue. Thisslide 43 is adapted to be connected in any suitable or approved mannerwith a yoke, a yoke strap, or breast chain of the harness. As isillustrated, the said slide 43 is connected with the breast yoke 44 bymeans of chains 45, the said yoke 44 being suitably connected with theharness. A clevis 46 is also shown attached to the forward end of thepole, whereby to enable extra horses to be attached. The slide 43 isprovided at its upper portion with an upwardly extending arm 47a, and inthis arm a pawl 47 is pivoted, one end of which pawl extends over therecesses 40 in the pole and is adapted to enter said recesses, while theopposite end of the said pawl is connected with a spring 48 that issecured to the said slide 43, and the spring 48 normally serves to holdthe pawl out of engagement with the recessed portion of the said tongue.A rope 49, or the equivalent thereof, is connected with the spring-controlled end of the pawl and is carried in any suitable or approvedmanner to the driver.

It is obvious that under ordinary circumstances, when the team is backedin going down an incline for example, the draft rod 37 will be drawnforward and will draw with it the operating bar 30, carrying the saidbar in a forward direction, and as the said draft bar travels forwardly,the rollers 26 on the brake actuating arms 22 and 23 will travel downthe inclined planes 28 and 29 to the diverging points of said planes andin so doing will cause the said brake actuating arms to rock and theirouter ends to draw upon the connection with the brake bar B, and thusapply the brake shoes 12 to the rear wheels 10 proportionately to thebacking action of the team.

In the event that it is desired to back the team without applying thebrakes to the vehicle, then the rope 49 is drawn upon and the pawl 47 iscarried downward so as to enter one or the other of the recesses 40 inthe square portion 39 of the pole, and at such time the automaticallycontrolled medium for setting the brakes will be put out of action. Thisbrake mechanism is exceedingly simple, it 1s durable, and 1s economic,

and it will positively act under all co'nditions.

The draft tree 50 -for the team s attached to a slide 51, and this slide51 is provided with a longitudinal slot 52, through which slot a pin 53extends, attached to the forward portion of the forward hounds, as isparticularly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and a spring 54 is secured to said.slide and to the forward bolster A3 or other convenient support, whichspring acts to draw the draft tree 50 rearward when the team is backing,so that the swingle trees will not hamper the team by coming in contactwith their legs, since the spring 54 will draw the draft tree at suchtime to the rear. The pin 53 is sustained by means of suitable braces55, attached to the forward hounds A5.

In order to set the brakes by backing the horses as little as possible,the forward portions of the inclined planes 28 and 29, are made veryabrupt, which will cause the arms 22 and 23 to be thrown apart with avery slight movement of the brake operating bar 30, which has slidingmovement over the reach through a suitable opening in the rear bolsterA2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent,`

1. In vehicles, the combination with the running gear, the brake bar,and shoes carried thereby, of a tension-controlled sliding bar providedwith opposing inclined planes, brake actuating arms engaging saidinclined planes,v connections between said arms and the brake bar, andmeans adapted to be operated by the resistance of the draft me` dium foroperating the sliding bar to move the actuating arms over said inclinedplanes.

2. In vehicles, the combination with the running gear, and a brake barcarried thereby, of a spring actuated sliding bar having opposinginclined planes, pivoted brake actuating arms engaging said inclinedplanes, connections between the said arms and the brake bar, and meansfor connecting the sliding bar with the harness.

3. In vehicles, the combination with the running gear, and a slidingbrake bar carried thereby, of a spring actuated sliding bar havingopposing inclined planes, pivoted brake actuating arms engaging theinclined planes, connections between the said arms and the brake bar, aslidable breast yoke carried by the tongue of the running gear, andconnections between the breast yoke and sliding bar.

4. In vehicles, the combination with the running gear, the brake bar andshoes carried thereby, of a brake actuating bar mounted to slide overthe reach of the running gear, which actuating bar is provided withopposing inclined planes, arms pivotally mounted and connected with thebrake bar, which arms are in engagement with said inclined planes, aslide mounted upon the tongue of the running gear, means for connectingthe slide with the harness, and connections between said slide and saidbar.

5. In vehicles, the combination with the forward and the rear axles, thetongue, the reach, and a brake bar movable to and from the rear axle, ofa brake actuating bar mounted for sliding movement over the reach, inclined planes at opposite sides of the brake actuating bar, brakeactuating arms fulcruined upon the said rear axle, the inner endswhereof are in engagement with the said inclined planes, connectionsbetween the brake actuating arms and the brake bar, a friction roller atthe forward end portion of the tongue, a neck yoke, and a flexibleconnection between the said neck yoke and the said brake actuating bar,which connection is passed over said pulley.

6. In vehicles, the combination with the forward and the rear axles, thetongue, the reach, and a brake bar movable to and from the rear axle, ofa brake actuating bar mounted for sliding movement over the reach,inclined planes at opposite sides of the brake actuating bar, brakeactuating arms fulcrumed upon the said rear axle, the inner ends whereofare in engagement with the said inclined planes, connections between thebrake actuating arms and the brake bar, a friction roller at the forwardend portion of the tongue, a neck yoke, a flexible connection betweenthe said neck yoke, and the said brake actuating bar, which connectionis passed over said pulley, a spring con-trolling the movement of thebrake operating bar in one direction, and means for locking the brakemechanism against operation.

at the forward end of the tongue of the .l

vehicle, a rod mounted to slide beneath the said tongue, flexibleconnections between the said rod and the brake actuating bar, a forwardsection of harness, a iexible connection between the said section ofharness and the said rod, which connection passes over the said pulley,and a spring-controlled pawl adapted for engagement with depressions inthe said tongue to prevent the operation of the brake mechanism when notneeded.

8. In vehicles, the combination with the running gear, the tongueprovided with recesses adjacent to its forward end, and a brakemechanism, of a slide dn the forward end of the tongue and provided witha projection, a connection between the slide and brake mechanism, a pawlpivoted to the projection of the slide and adapted to engage therecesses of the tongue, a spring for normally holding the pawl ont ofengagement with the said recesses, and means for operating the pawl fromthe vehicle.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

RUFUS C. PRYOR.

Witnesses JOHN W. HOOVER, CLAUDE U. S'romEMYER,

